Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
276. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice when the Criminal Justice (Mutual Recognition of Custodial Sentences) Act 2023 will be fully implemented so that transfers of prisoners can take place from other EU states, from Britain and from Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49154/23]
View answerThe Criminal Justice (Mutual Recognition of Custodial Sentences) Act 2023 (the “2023 Act”) was signed into law on 1 March 2023 and was commenced on 3 May 2023.
As the Deputy will be aware, the 2023 Act transposed Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA on “the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments in criminal matters imposing custodial sentences or measures involving deprivation of liberty for the purpose of their enforcement in the EU”, that is, the enforcement of a custodial sentence in a State other than where it was imposed. The 2023 Act also significantly amends the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Acts 1995 and 1997, and the Transfer of Execution of Sentences Act 2005, which respectively implement the 1983 Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and its Additional Protocol in Ireland.
The Framework Decision, implemented by the 2023 Act, builds on the Convention and supersedes it in respect of EU transfers. The Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Transfer of Execution of Sentences Acts will continue to operate alongside the 2023 Act, as the Convention and its Additional Protocol continue to apply in respect of non-EU transfers, including with the United Kingdom.
Applications for inward and outward transfers are currently being processed under the relevant Acts. The first outward transfer took place in recent weeks and a number of applications for inward and outward transfers are at the latter stages of processing.
